Thompson: Golden State Warriors living the dream

This time, no splashy news conference went down on the pier. No visit from David Stern and Ahmad Rashad. No buttons heralding big things in 2017.

Still, the same doggedness over the Warriors' arena project continues among the team's brass. The same we-perform-miracles spirit is driving this project forward.

The arena project is not on hold. That was the adamant response Monday from team officials to reports that the project had stalled. The Warriors are now acknowledging what most already knew: Their plans for a fantastical new arena on the San Francisco waterfront won't come to fruition in 2017. The new target date is 2018.

This is an artistís rendering of the Golden State Warriorsí proposed new arena along the San Francisco waterfront near the Bay Bridge. The updated designs were released on Sunday, May 5, 2013. More renderings can be found at www.warriors.com/sf. Art courtesy of Snøhetta & AECOM and the NBA.
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Art courtesy of Snøhetta & AECOM
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"We're expecting to make 2018, and we're full-speed ahead," team president Rick Welts said when contacted Monday. "Any indication there is any pause, that we're taking our foot off the pedal, is completely inaccurate."

Yes, they are still moving forward -- aggressively, they might add -- toward the spaceship on the dock of the bay at Piers 30/32.

What's more, Welts said moving next door to the Giants is not on the table. He said they aren't considering East Bay locations. The smart money is on some alternative plans being worked out behind the scenes to save face. But the public stance remains emphatic.

"We're 100 percent focused on 30/32," Welts said.

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It's hard not to respect the stubbornness of the Warriors' brass. The greatest of accomplishments require powering through the greatest of doubts. And this arena project is embedded in doubt.

The price keeps rising. The window of opportunity keeps closing. The critics keep chirping. This arena feels like even more of a pipe dream than it did when the project was announced in 2012. Of course, all of that would make fruition that much sweeter.

The Golden State Warriors announced plans to build a new basketball arena just south of the Bay Bridge at piers 30-32 seen here in a photograph taken in San Francisco, Calif., Tuesday, May 22, 2012. The Warriors plan to build the privately financed waterfront sports and entertainment arena in time for the 2017-18 NBA season. (Anda Chu/Staff)
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ANDA CHU
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But it's also hard not to shake your head at the same stubbornness. It's as if the Warriors are choosing the path of most resistance. Running up a down escalator.

The Warriors and co-owner Joe Lacob have built up some good favor in the Bay Area. The public perception of both the team and Lacob have improved dramatically since the infamous booing that followed the Monta Ellis trade. But this arena stuff threatens that progress. Issues with arenas and stadiums can leave a team with egg on its face (the Bob Lurie-era Giants) or take away from the glory of their achievements (the Lew Wolff-era A's).

The financial coup awaiting the Warriors, if they pull this off, is probably worth all the hassle. However, if it doesn't happen, it's going to be a long fall from grace considering the tunnel vision they've had this whole way.

The Warriors are working on the third revision of the new arena. Even though fixing up the decaying piers will cost $180 million, double the initial projections. Even though the project eventually might be forced onto a ballot since it exceeds waterfront height restrictions. Even though 2018 may not even be possible, which could lead to another concession. The Warriors are bent on fulfilling this dream of theirs.

Welts said the delay is the result of the Warriors being amenable to the community.

The timeline has been pushed back because they can't complete their environmental impact report and other requirements until they finish their final design. But their final design isn't done because they have been incorporating input from the various relative entities. Yet another public meeting was scheduled to take place Monday.

So the Warriors are just victims of the process, about which they were forewarned. And it will become further protracted if the voters are forced to get involved, or if the Warriors are forced to switch gears and find another spot.